So I started with some founder background, but now let’s get into what this start up is about. The following is our founder talking about how this company came to be and a bit on where it is today. Very simply he describes the market, the problem, his solution and the results of that solution.
When I first came up with the idea of creating a job search management system, I used it as an intervention in my doctoral dissertation, which was on the impact of social networks in the job search. I found that job seekers lacked an organized process to find a job. This lengthened the time to find a job, decreased motivation during the search and occasionally led to less than optimal job acceptance – settling.
Central themes of the dissertation was the importance of providing structure throughout the job search, a system to allow job seekers access to the hidden job market and to manage the process in a simple structure.
The results demonstrated that those who used the system were twice as likely to find a job and I knew then that I had to disseminate this to as many job seekers as possible.
The first thing I did was to convert my process from paper and pencil to a binder format so that job seekers could use it as a management tool kit while they looked for work. Because I was connected to employment agencies, I had a list of people who I could get in contact with to show the system to. At first I went in thinking that I would provide this for free and quickly realized that they were willing to pay for it. This was the moment that I realized that I had a business.
The start up of the business was done on a shoe string budget. I only had to produce the kits when they were required so I developed a relationship with a manufacture and was able to produce them on demand. I started a newsletter, went to conferences and made direct calls. The low tech tool kit was really catching on. It was simple and more importantly it provided real time feedback on how the job seeker was doing. It was easy to market as well since I was focusing on professional job coaches and names were easily available.
In mid 2000 I got a developer to create the first online version of the tool. However, although I was excited, the job coaches and their clients weren’t ready for an internet tool. I realized I introduced it a few years too early and needed to wait for internet capabilities and usage rates to increase.
Fast forward to today and the conditions are perfect. The platform as I envisioned has been adapted to the Internet and unfortunately we are going through one of the worse employment rates in some time. I’ve hired a developer, worked through the requirements and produced the first version of the online tool kit. I’m confident based on the reception of the low tech version that this will quickly catch with job coach professionals. Recognizing I need to assemble a team to make this work I engaged a marketing and sales professional whom I’ve worked with in the past. He in turn found a seasoned entrepreneurial executive to serve as our president. It was with this team that we realized there is no need to only target job coaches but there’s a much bigger opportunity to go directly to the job seeker.
We believe we have a global solution that can scale rapidly and create multiple revenue streams, while addressing a significant problem facing job seekers. Our goal is to help people find jobs quicker and help them manage their career toward their ideal (dream) job. With a bit more coding we’ll be hitting our first target market. I can’t wait!